Louchheim defeated Weber State alum Kelsey Chugg in last year’s semifinals, and carried a seven-hole victory past Kate Walker as the tournament’s No. 7 seed entering her latest season at the University of Nebraska. The Standard-Examiner caught up with Louchheim earlier this week at the event’s annual media day, as well as a handful of the field’s top contenders.

An 18-hole qualifying round tees off Monday with Nya Palmer and Gabrielle Roznicki kicking off the tournament at 7:30 a.m. The top 32 qualifiers return Tuesday for match play.

Here are five golfers to watch in the race for the individual women’s state amateur title.

• Kelsey Chugg: Six-time champion Kelsey Chugg finished three holes shy of Louchheim in last year’s semifinals as the No. 3 seed. The Weber State alum previously won the tournament in 2024, 2022, 2017, 2015, 2013 and 2012 and, a year ago, had her name added to the WSU Athletics Hall of Fame.

• Grace Summerhays: Summerhays, the younger sister of Farmington native Preston Summerhays and the daughter of fellow pro Boyd Summerhays, enters the field a year removed from her graduation from Arizona State as the 2025 Big 12 Women’s Golf Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Summerhays qualified for match play last year as the No. 5 seed, but dropped from the round of 16 following a 2-and-1 loss to No. 25 Adley Nelson.

• Sydney Richards: Richards is another Farmington hopeful making her homecoming with this year’s tournament following a prolific Division III career at Southern Virginia. She’s ready to finish her college career at Utah Valley University this school year, but before that she’ll try her hand at the State Amateur after a top-5 finish in 2024 and a Round of 32 appearance last year.

• Whitni Johnson: After making the cut in 2024, Johnson, committed to UVU, wrapped her successful career at Bonneville High. As a junior, Johnson delivered Bonneville’s first individual girls golf state title in over a decade; In May, Johnson placed fourth individually at the 5A girls golf state championship at Riverbend Golf Course in Riverton.

• Ashley Lam: A semifinalist a year ago, Ashley Lam, the No. 17 seed, fell a hole shy of finalist Kate Walker after making the cut for a third consecutive year. Lam, coming off her sophomore year at Westminster, was named the 2025-26 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Golf Academic Player of the Year after finishing the year ranked N0. 29 nationally and eighth in the region.

Connect with Standard-Examiner sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net, X @ctbecker and Instagram @standardexaminersports.